My final project is based on the story The Little Match Girl, a story written by well-known fable author, Hans Christian Anderson, in 1840. My work explores and deconstructs literary narratives, from fables to myths, poetry to philosophy. I am especially interested in the idea of the artist as a writer and the novel as an autonomous work of art. In 2008 I created a series of darkroom photographs inspired by the myth of Narcissus, in 2009 I gave Alice in Wonderland a post-apocalyptic twist, in 2010 I used hand-made puppets to bring to life Kafka’s Metamorphosis. I frequently use literary symbols and motifs, as well as digital and analog photo manipulation techniques to translate these stories into my work.
For my final project I chose the Little Match Girl for its timeless poetic quality, as well as for its political undertones. The juxtaposition of a 17th century story told through 21st century technology adds a layer of contrast to my take on the narrative The Little Match Girl takes place on a cold and snowy new years eve; a young girl is sent out to sell matches on the street by her father. Nobody buys her matches and the girl finds a corner to crouch in, she lights a match to warm her hands and sees a vision of a happy family cutting a new years roast, but when the match burns out so does the cheerful family. The girl lights a second match and sees a second vision, this one of a large, decorated Christmas tree, as the star falls from the top of the tree the match goes out and tree disappears. The girl lights her third and final match and sees before her her grandmother, the only person to love her, the girl begs her grandmother to take her, to not disappear like the roast and the tree, and the grandmother agrees. As dawn hits and shines early morning light upon the corner, passersby notice the young girl, frozen to death leaning against the wall with a peaceful smile upon her face.
The Little Match Girl Installation is in essence an intimate interaction between a single participant and a narrative. As a person moves through the story, like the pages of a book, he/she will have the opportunity to visually see the story come to life through their own actions; the story itself will retain it’s beginning, middle and end in a traditional linear fashion. Through this linear, personal interaction the installation will retain the autonomous quality of a book.
The installation itself is made possible through the use of Open Frameworks, a Microsoft Kinect, a laptop, a projector, and several props. The projector is mounted on an auto pole approximately twelve and a half feet from the wall and pointed down so as to not create shadows from the participants. The laptop is hooked up to the projector and attached to the Kinect, which is mounted on a tripod several feet from the piece. Three separate images will run concurrently through Open Frameworks, one of a young girl, one of the alley with snow falling, and one of a ‘vision’; these images are projected onto a large piece of black fabric, scaled to half life-size, or around three feet.
Before a participant approaches the installation he/she will simply see a black and white projection of snow falling in a deserted alley. As the user walks through a young disheveled girl appears, trying to sell matches in the freezing snow. The young girl will mirror the user’s movements, walking forwards, backwards, and sitting at the same time as the user. This mirror effect will allow the participant to see the story through the eyes of the first person, or as if it were read directly from the pages of the book. The participant will be guided through the narrative through a series of visual cues and props, such as a place to sit down and an accompanying pack of matches. As the participant sits against the black backdrop displaying the snowy scene, the young girl will also sit as she fights to stay warm. The participant will have the opportunity to strike a match, the young girl will follow suit, and as that match is struck the girl’s vision will appear simultaneously. The vision itself is meant to symbolize true moments of happiness that the girl can only dream of, like the life she never had flashing before her. At the conclusion of the montage the young girl will fall back, the snow blanketing her as she freezes, and the piece will come to a close. The piece will begin again from the start as another participant approaches, thereby encouraging the one-on-one interaction.
For more please see my process blog here
http://mayaweinstein-process.tumblr.com/
**Special thanks to Zach Gage, Shankari Murali and Zach Lieberman for all their help with this project.
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